Are You Invisible Online?

It's true that your IP address is no secret. It's a basic part of internet communication protocols to send your IP address whenever you connect to another site, request a web page, chat, play an online game, etc. Without your IP address, the computer on the other end wouldn't know where to send the reply.

But that doesn't mean that Evildoers can find your house if they know your IP address. Each time you go online (if you have dialup) or each time you start your computer (if you have cable or dsl) you will be assigned an IP address, randomly selected from a pool of IP's assigned to your Internet service provider (ISP). WHOIS Your ISP

So a person MIGHT be able to get a general idea of your geographic location, based on your IP address, by doing a lookup on the WHOIS database, but that will only tell them the physical location of your ISP -- not YOUR home address.

And if you use a large regional or nationwide ISP, the IP lookup probably reveals nothing of interest. For example, if you are an AOL subscriber, your IP address lookup will show the location as Dulles, Virginia -- regardless of where you live.

When The Law Comes A Knockin'

Of course there is an exception to every rule. If Joe or Jane User calls your ISP and wants to know who was using a certain IP address last Tuesday, the ISP will tell them to go away. But if an officer of the law hands your ISP a court order to reveal that information, they must do so. Your ISP's logs will enable them to determine which customer was using a certain IP address on a certain date & time, and they must reveal that information if a court has found probable cause that a crime was committed by that person.

But for the truly paranoid (or the criminally inclined) there are ways to surf the web anonymously. The Anonymizer service will act as a proxy between you and your ISP, and they claim that your information cannot be subpoenaed because they do not store it.

What About Email Addresses?

The same concepts apply to your email address. The part that follows the "@" sign is your ISP's domain name. And given the domain name, one can determine the ISP's physical location, but nothing personally identifying about the email user without a court order.

Web-based email accounts are not truly anonymous, either. Even if you don't provide your real name when signing up, they can capture your IP address and track you through your ISP if necessary. Other Considerations

It's much more likely that you or your children will reveal your physical location the old fashioned way -- by just blurting it out. Kids who chat or play online games should be reminded often that they should never reveal any personal information, including their last name, phone number or home address.

Oh, and if you have any spyware or viruses on your system, all bets are off. These things are designed to violate your privacy.

ashutosh.soni03

28Jun2007 18:06

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"But for the truly paranoid (or the criminally inclined) there are ways to surf the web anonymously. The Anonymizer service will act as a proxy between you and your ISP, and they claim that your information cannot be subpoenaed because they do not store it."

Proxy servers can be a threat to a normal user. It has been found that many proxy servers are operated by black-hat hackers and they sniff the information which gets through it thus confidentiality is compromised. Also proxy servers are extensively used in DoS,DDoS,DRoS attacks. Be prudent before using Proxy Servers

Comments as always welcomed !

pradeep

28Jun2007 23:37

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

Yes proxy servers can be dangerous, that's why you used logon to password authenticated sites while surfing through proxy!

Totally_confused

1Jul2007 16:24

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

Hi

I read one of the posts about ip addresses by pradeep and how no one can find out ur personal details from having your ip address..

I wanted to ask 2 questions. I recently joined a forum of which the owner adminsitor did not like me at all for personal reasons. Having registered on the forum can that person attain my Ip address? I have now left that forum can that person still find my ip address?

More importantly, can this person who is so advanced and knows his way around the computer and software etc etc - this person is very knowledgable.

With this in mind can this person or anyone who may be so so advance find out my true identity and personal details such as my house address, my name, etc? Is it possible for them to find out? As i am so worried about this

And can special software or anything help this person or anyone else find my personal details such as my house address?

thank you

Totally_confused

1Jul2007 16:46

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

What if someone know's / has contacts who work at your ISP to which your IP belongs then surely they can find out the personal details right?

I remember this person saying they have contacts in certain ISP, but trying to be clever that person did not reveal which one. Obviously from the WHOIS u can find the ISP details to a particular IP address.

Thanks

kush_2207

1Jul2007 20:37

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

Getting personal details from IP address itself is tough....Yes it is possible for most of times to get the ISP from IP...but in some cases i have observed (as in BSNL) WHOIS query doesnt reveal anything !

Talking about getting home address,phone-number etc. is not possible....unless someone has gained access to confidential data of ISP or someone working for ISP -> for this one i dont really have any idea....but might be able to get i can only say that !

Need_Help

7Aug2007 21:40

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

I coonect to the Internet on my Laptop - by hacking / picking up on someone's Linksys connection. A few things I wanted to ask, firstly when I enter a chatroom I don't have my real Ip address displayed on the chatroom screen as it usually is, instead there is another Ip address which strates from 192.168..etc. I did a quick 'find my ip address' search online and was presented by a completely different Ip address. Why is that the case, I mean why does the chatroom screen not display my 'real' ip address? Does this mean when I go into chatrooms, the adminstrators only see this 192.168.... Ip address as opposed to my 'real' one?

Secondly, by a hacker knowing my IP address can he find out my personal details or hack me without my acknowledgement? Note: I am not using my own connection router, I have gained connection to an unsecured connection I have picked up from my home.

And if they can hack into my IP address, well it isn't my IP address is it? So they can't gain my personal details can they?

Please someone clear this up for me.

I am aware that a person can pick up on the linksys connection I have already picked up from someone else, but they can only do that if they are near me right? Like in the same neighbourhood as me etc? right?

All suggestions welcome

thanks

pradeep

7Aug2007 22:30

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

Well u connected to the wireless router the router assigns you a private IP address, the router itself may be a node on the ISP's private network, where the router uses the ISP's gateway to connect to the internet.
You connect something like this,
Your Lappy -> Wireless Router -> ISP -> Internet

Someone on the private network can surely hack in, but its not quite possible for someone hacking into your system via the internet!

Need_Help

8Aug2007 01:00

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

thanks pradeep

so to clarify. your sayin a person can hack into my network, i.e. they can take advantage of my connection, mainly those nearby me. Is that what u mean by hack in network?

But they can't use my IP address or the facet that I have picked up someone's connection to hack into my laptop system and view my personal details?

I have occasionally used websites on my laptop where i have typed in my personal details such as my name and address, no one can see that information can they? by hacking into my network?

thanks

Need_Help

8Aug2007 01:05

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

hi pradeep

i dont quite get what u mean by this sentence, when u replied to my first time

".....where the router uses the ISP's gateway to connect to the internet"

what do u mean by 'gateway'?

u have said that its not possible for them to hack into my laptop system , but what if that person had my wireless IP ADDRESS? could they do anything like send me a virus or spyware or whatever onto my laptop and through that way gain my personal details?

Need_Help

8Aug2007 01:10

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

hi pradeep

i dont quite understand what u mean by this sentence: "..where the router uses the ISP's gateway to connect to the internet" that was what u replied with in ur reply to my first question. What do u mean by 'gateway' and what do u mean by private ip, if ive hacked someone's network i have got my own individual IP address and not theres? I mean im not sharing theres i.e. the person's connection i've hacked?

I know u said that a person cannot hack into my laptop system, but with wireless and a person knowing my wireless IP ADDRESSS can they use that to send me malicious spyware programs or anything that can download on my laptop which by that way can give them access to my personal details?

Sorry Im not really good with computer terminology if u wouldnt mind explaining this and clarifying this situation and concern i have for my personal details.

thanks

Need_Help

8Aug2007 01:17

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

oh i forgot to ask

what is a 'sysop' i heard chatrooms have them. and i also know they can read people's conversations that take place in the chatroom itself, is that the only thing they can see? what else can these sysops see? do they see a chatroom users IP addresss? name?

thanks for any advice i get

pradeep

8Aug2007 09:56

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

If you are not visiting a secure site then its is quite possible that someone eavesdrop on the data transfered between your computer and the internet! If you have a good firewall, and a good antivirus, you have a little risk of being getting hacked.

Need_Help

8Aug2007 15:29

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

ok thats a fair point

but can a hacker knowing ur IP address, that is from an unsecure connection, do anything to hack u? I mean with just the IP address?

haroras

4Aug2008 15:37

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

heey Needy !!

why do you seem to be so worried on your system being hacked ?

if you do a hacking and get someone's (i call him 'owner' here) network connection .. it's obvious that the owner has your ip address and bandwidth information on the router.

needless to say owner has full access to your system if he is an advanced computer user. so if you think you are safe, you might be mistaken !!

So STOP using freebies network from others and get your own stuff installed. .... Got it !!

XXxxImmortalxxXX

11Aug2008 00:27

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

well it depends with just ur ip depends on how smart the person is. and yes it is possible but the lack of knowledge within hackers can be greater or less so it depends again on the hacker

u seem to be very worried about someone hacking ur pc lol

linuxswan

13Aug2008 14:28

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

Yes we can know the geographic location by using the ipaddress but it sometimes stops for those who are behind proxy so check that using google

geoiplocation

sabrinaa

27May2011 11:17

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

Very nice information. IP address does not reveal the exact information of the location. It shows only the location of the ISP or some other location closeby your place. There are certain legal rules to be followed if you require the exact location. This site IP-Details.com where i check my ip address details shows the location of my ISP only.

Trimegisto

22Sep2011 16:47

Re: Does IP Address Reveal My Physical Location?

Is is true that a normal approach will be a dead end leading to the ISP because they are assigned block of IP addresses and you have no way of knowing who gets each address.

But if you trace the connection, trying to get a response from all hops, you might get lucky because some of the active devices, namely routers and gateways, along the way are sometimes named with geographically clear names.

But even so, that will just diminish the radius of the search area. Theoretically, only your ISP should know exactly where you are.